Atra Rosa
by Ai Tennshi
Summary: What if Selene had been an age old lycan, and Michael a new vampire? What if Selene were the one with something special about her genetic makeup?
1. Odium

_Author's Note: I wrote this a long time ago for a friend, and recently discovered it when digging through all sorts of stray files on my computer. So here it is, and I hope you enjoy it!_

_This was written for, and now dedicated to, Aki._

Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable from the movie Underworld.

**Chapter 1: Odium**

She walked the familiar route almost mechanically, her leather floor-length jacket pulled closely to her lithe body. She resented her monthly duty, but then again, most did—why else would they have each of them take the job once a month instead of assigning it to one permanently? The walls were splattered with what looked like hardened dirt. Selene smirked—only humans would think it dirt. It looked brown, and it was hard, like the mud, trailed in during a storm but never cleaned, drying on the walls. Yet, despite all this, she knew very well what it was. It was not dirt in the least—in fact, it wasn't even supposed to be there. It was the very essence of life, the red stream that all living beings depended on to live, that people so cherished.

Blood.

The human police would surely investigate thoroughly if they found it. Yet, Selene wasn't worried in the least. For she knew, no human would ever suspect for blood to stain the walls of the subway of Budapest—that is, unless they saw some sort of fighting there. _No worries there_, thought Selene with a snort. Pitiful vampires wouldn't be in the subway tunnels in the day time, and as for the night, even if a train did happen to interrupt, humans were too few in number, and too tired to notice a thing. _Worthless…_

Fifty yards later, the stains covered much less of the walls. When she kicked some of the gravel that covered the ground, however, she was not surprised to see more stains. Selene continued to walk, willing night to come, and to have something to _do _on her patrol.

Selene's sensitive ears caught a slight noise, and she flew to the wall on instinct, pressing herself against it, her head turned to the side. Not ten seconds later the headlights of a train reflected on the wall, before the silver train turned the curve and rushed towards her at a tremendous speed. At least, a would-be tremendous speed. She had long since become accustomed to the speed of the trains rushing passed her during the years she had been what she was, she was thinking as the never-ending train continued to pass half an inch from her body.

Impatience welled up within her, and it took all her self-control not to just pass over, under, or even through the endless train. She was sure that she could easily dart under a wheel, and once under the train she could run in the opposite direction as the train, coming out before long. Going over the train, she contemplated, would do nothing. She would be squished between the train and the ceiling, and she would accomplish nothing but going along with the train. It was the same with going through it, she observed. _Only I'd have the bonus of frightening the humans, alert them of something, have the police roaming all over in here, and be stuck in the hideout for a while before they leave. Besides, would Lucian even let me live if I did that?_

She ended her imaginary escapes, and returned her attention to the train. It was still continuing, and from what she could see from her position, it was not going to end any time soon. She desperately wanted to stomp her foot, and she considered the consequences of going under the train. However, from her experience, Lucian's wrath was not worth facing because of her impatience. The train still continued. _What, have they started the Many-Train-Cars Revolution?_ Thought the irritated immortal. In addition to her hard-controlled impatience, she was picking up a scent—a scent that she loathed, despised, and yet could not kill. _At least it'll give me something to do,_ she assured herself, glaring at the still unending train out of the corner of her eye. _Once this 100-car train decides to finally end!!_

Right on cue, as though the train had heard her irritated thoughts, felt her menace, or seen her sharp glare, the train's last car rushed passed her. Selene jumped down from the ledge on which she had been standing, not hesitating for even a millisecond, as soon as the record length train had passed.

Selene sensed her enemy before she saw her. Or her, she corrected herself as she whirled around, sending a kick the bloodsucker's way. The quick female dodged her kick with ease, despite her thick denim attire. Selene felt like wrinkling her nose. _**Yellow denim?**__ Where the hell does she get her clothes?!_

"That the best you can do?" smirked the vampire. Her words had no effect on her opponent. Selene knew that she was slightly stiff, and would need to warm up before she could take the vampire on properly. She formulated a plan, though vague, as she pulled out her gun from her black leather coat.

_If I can just keep her from getting near me at first…_ Selene fired, expecting the female to dodge it as simply as she had the kick. _Then again, that works too,_ Selene thought sarcastically as the vampire crumpled on the ground, leaving new stains on the walls in addition to the already large puddle in which the female was lying._ Right in the heart too—she didn't even move an inch,_ observed Selene. _A newborn, by the looks of her. Poor thing, on her first hunt too,_ was her sarcastic thought as she tried not to think what Lucian would say when he heard that she had killed yet another one. 'It was an accident' surely wasn't going to work four times.

She abruptly cut her thoughts short and spun around from where she had been looking at the body when she sensed another. No, that was plural. Selene cursed multiple times in her head as she found herself surrounded entirely by ten—no, eleven bloodsuckers. On the one side where there were no vampires, her way was blocked by a wall. _First the train, now the wall—I wonder, would Lucian agree to exterminate all the humans instead of these guys? At least they don't build obstacles!_ Selene rolled her eyes mentally as she added to that thought. _They _are _the obstacles._

The bloodsuckers surrounding her all wore the same things—tight T-shirts and tight pants. Selene could recognize that uniform in her sleep. _Kraven's group._ She let loose another string of curses in her head.

"So… killed another vamp, Selene?" came a sly voice from behind the rest of the group. Selene's eyes narrowed at the direction from which the voice had come.

"Kraven," she growled. Her biting tone and eyes in which a fire of loathing burnt made her feelings for this particular vampire quite clear. Kraven visibly cringed for a second before regaining his composure, then proceeded with his well-planned speech.

"I wonder what Lucian will say when he hears…" continued the target of Selene's loathing. The beauty's eyes narrowed, the fire of menace growing dramatically. Knowing that he had struck a nerve, Kraven smirked, encouraged. Selene resisted the urge to simply lift her gun and kill him. Although she wouldn't care what Lucian did as long as she succeeded in killing the one thing on Earth the she hated more than Amelia, she knew that with as many bloodsuckers around as there were, she would not be able to kill their leader and get away alive. Selene wasn't one to be proud of a short-lived victory. Who knew if she would even live long enough to kill the vamp once she had raised the gun to point at him? Her hand holding the gun shifted ever so slightly, giving her a firmer grip as her pointer finger returned to the trigger. Her other hand clenched, her nailed digging into her palm and drawing warm, sticky blood to keep her self-control.

"I can make a deal with you," said Kraven. Selene's eyes narrowed even more, now no more than slits. However, even then the fire of menace and loathing was just as evident. "You have four choices." Looking at Kraven's raised 3 fingers, Selene rolled her eyes at his stupidity before she tossed her head, throwing her long, black mane of hair behind her shoulders. Listening couldn't hurt her. Whether she wanted to or not, she was smart enough to know that she had no choice unless she wanted a couple silver bullets in her. She had seen the effect of those bullets—the silver was immediately picked up by a lycan's bloodstream, killing it in a matter of seconds when the silver reached the heart along with the now poisonous blood.

"Well then, let's hear them, shall we?" Her voice was ice cold, biting like the wind of a snowstorm. Her voice held just as much, if not more, hate than her eyes, and if anyone had doubted that Selene wanted desperately to kill Kraven before then, there was no more doubt about it. The passion that flowed from Selene's body was so evident, it almost seemed palpable. Kraven's smirk widened as he began to speak—he recognized the fact that Selene's passion was directed towards him. However, he alone was oblivious to the type of passion being displayed by the raven-haired beauty.

"Number one: you go back to your precious Lucian and see how merciful he is to you a forth time. Personally, I somehow don't think you'll escape some physical torture." He paused to study Selene's reaction. However, having grasped her self-control firmly, her face remained unchanging. The fact that her grip on the gun tightened very slightly went unnoticed by all present. "Number two: I let you escape the torture, and order my men to kill you here and now. I assure you—eleven of these new silver bullets in your heart; you won't suffer." Selene, once again, resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Kraven frowned slightly at her lack of response. He continued in spite of everything. It was common knowledge that Kraven was stubborn, and when he wanted something, he would not pause until he got it. "Number three: you could ignore everything I say and attempt to escape, killing my men. However, I assure you—these are Amelia's best and strongest men. Perhaps you could defeat them if it were you against one or two—your strength is not unheard of. However, you against the best eleven plus me? Something tells me you would lose." When Selene failed to contradict him, Kraven smirked, sensing victory. He walked up to her confidently. Her grip tightened, but she still refused to raise the gun. Kraven came up close to her, too close for comfort, and whispered into her ear. "Then there's number four: you could always come and run away with me and be my life partner."

Selene finally lashed out in calm disagreement. Her elbow slammed into his face, and a sickening crack was heard along with the blood that flowed freely from the vampire's nose. Disgusted, the lycan wiped the sticky liquid from her elbow. Her hated foe raised his head again to meet her eyes. While Selene's remained to be calm and cold, Kraven's burned in fury.

"So, that's your choice, is it? Well then, you might as well get down on your knees and pray that you go to heaven!" The words were hissed through teeth clenched in fury. As Kraven's limp right hand signaled to the others to attack her, having replaced her gun in her coat, Selene's body was already shaking, hair—or, more like fur—growing at an extreme rate from her body.

The bloodsuckers all extracted their guns with ease as they got into fighting stance. However, Kraven had been late in signaling to them—during the couple seconds that it had taken for them to get ready, their foe had transformed.

The snarling beast leapt onto one of the group, sinking its claws into her neck. The vampire continued its attempts to shoot the lycan that was on top of it, but its arms and legs were being restrained painfully, making fighting an unthinkable action.

"What do you all think you're doing? Get her!!!" Kraven's shrill shriek was ear-splitting, and most of the vampires winced as their sensitive ears were attacked by their leader's fury.

Selene, her ears more sensitive than usual, flinched for a split second, making herself vulnerable. One vampire seized the opportunity, shooting a bullet at her. The snarling animal ducked, but not without the bullet grazing its shoulder. The wolf's eyes narrowed to slits, revealing its anger. It dug its claws into the head of the vampire it was restraining. The moment Selene's claws hit the skull, there was a sickening crunch before the vampire went limp. The knocked-out vampire was given no second thought as it was dropped to the ground, and Selene whirled around to face the rest. The vampires shot at her, but centuries of training allowed her to dash towards them, all the while avoiding all the shots sent her way.

She pounced on one, slashing its chest open. Before its cold red essence had a chance to even appear at the surface of the wound, the lycan was on its next pray. She slashed, kicked, lashed out, and used every method of attack that she knew except for one—biting. Her hind legs' claws dug into a vampire's stomach at the same time as her front legs hit another extremely hard in the head. She rushed towards another, increasing her speed to her maximum, and ramming into the immortal with her head. She knew that it would fly towards the wall and hit it painfully, knocking out hopefully more than one of its companions on the way.

She pounced onto another, and its gun fell. Looking down at it briefly, she hit its face hard with her head. Losing no time, she whirled around, only to find no one there. There were five left, she knew, sniffing the air. Turning to the ceiling, she just registered where the rest were, when something fell painfully onto her back, restraining her. She snarled, and attempted to shake it off, but it only responded by digging a silver knife into her back. Selene noted that he had missed his target, if only by a few inches. She moved again to throw him off, but he sprang up off of her, and she threw herself onto the floor. Her back, which should have been him, cracked, and she knew that she needed to get the fight over with as soon as she could.

This time, when one of them flew at her from the wall, she charged at it instead, knocking it out of the air. _Oh, to hell with those useless rules, _she thought as she bit off the heads of two bloodsuckers as she pounced on them. _The only thing is, I seem to be doing all the blood sucking,_ she noted, slightly amused, as she went to tackle another. She threw herself at it, and it stepped out of the way. Growling, she charged at it, her claws bared and her eyes menacing, only to receive a cold, bored look in response.

She snarled in frustration, lashing out at him. He stepped out of the way again, but Selene had been expecting this. Her claws took a swerve and caught him in the eye, emitting a strangled cry from the dismayed vampire. She once again threw herself at him, knowing that he wouldn't step away this time. Sure enough, too busy attempting to stop the cold, oozing liquid that flowed from his eye, Selene's enemy fell to the ground. She turned, facing the last. At the back of her mind, she noted that it was the same one that had jumped onto her back. She charged at him, becoming aware once more of the wound in her shoulder as it began to register in her mind again. _Not yet; first I have to finish this one off,_ she told herself firmly, pressing the burning pain down, trying to make herself unconscious of it, knowing it would only serve as a distraction. As she turned up to look her foe in the eye, she caught sight of Kraven, tripping and stumbling over the bodies in his haste, escaping from the scene. Just the fact that he was gone was enough to make her feel strong enough to stand straight for a while longer.

As she charged, the brown-headed vampire leaped over her head, landing on the other side of her. Selene threw a kick behind herself where she knew that he would be. Feeling her claws contact with something hard, she turned quickly as soon as her foot was back on the ground, only to find that she had merely kicked the gun out of his hands. She once again attacked without wasting a second, this time throwing him off of his feet as she crouched low. Turning she saw him flip in the air, allowing him to land on his feet.

Needless to say, the female lycan was impressed, enemy or not. No one had ever been able to compete with her in her transformed form. However, just as she was about to send another attack his way, her eyelids seemed to increase greatly in weight. Ignoring this fact, she transformed back into human state, pulling out her alternate gun as she did so. Holding the exceptionally heavy gun in her right hand, and steadying it with her left, she shot well-aimed shots at the vampire. However, he flipped, ducked, jumped, and stood in ways that she could find no pattern or predict. She was beginning to feel weak in her arms and legs as well, and was having trouble concentrating on the fight. Pulling the trigger once more at the lightly panting vampire, she found to her dismay that the gun was now empty. Feeling as though her strength was being sucked out of her with the knowledge that her last resort was gone, she dropped to the ground, unable to do anything to prevent it. On her hands and knees, she sensed the vampire approaching her. Raising her head, she snarled at the bloodsucker that was to be her end.

"Why don't you just get out your gun and shoot? I'd like that a lot better than a slow and painful death. Besides, shooting's actually quite common, and I believe that there are multiple countries on Earth where cruel and unusual punishments are illegal." The vampire ignored her, walking up right next to her before crouching there. When she threw a punch his way, she was not surprised when he caught her fist, and she could not muster the strength to throw a kick at him. To her surprise, he gently placed her fist back by her side as his hands reached out to her wound.

"What the-" Her exclamation started when she discovered that she did not have the strength to push him away any longer was cut off by the vampire's firm but calm voice.

"Stay still. The bullet may have only grazed you, but it could still kill you. In addition to that, I got a knife in your back… Sorry about that, but luckily it was steel…" As he talked, the vampire pulled the knife out of her back, pressing the wound with his hand as he lay her down on the ground. As her consciousness slipped away from her, Selene registered that he was still panting very slightly. She felt him slip her jacket off of her shoulder, ripping open her leather shirt from the hole made by the bullet. Her eyes grew heavier and heavier, until she knew nothing but darkness.

_Author's Note: Well? What do you think? Review, and I'll post the next chapter!_


	2. Nox

_Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews!! And now I present...chapter two!_

**Atra Rosa**

**Chapter 2: Nox**

Her head ached as she sat up slowly. Unlike many did when they awoke from a faint, Selene remembered clearly all that had happened. She noted that she was on a wooden bed with white sheets in the corner of a gray room. There was a dark redwood wardrobe on the other side of the room across from her, and a window took up the entire wall on the other side of the room to her left. Heavy, brown velvet curtains were open to reveal the night sky, the moon high. There was a balcony beyond the window, and the vampire she remembered from earlier stood with his back to her, staring thoughtfully at the night sky.

After contemplating a little while, Selene got up silently, surprised to find herself in a white, frilly gown. She wrinkled her nose. _What is it with vampires and _terrible _fashion sense?_ she wondered only briefly before walking noiselessly to the wardrobe. Silently opening it, she took out what looked to be the tightest outfit—this particular vampire seemed to like loose clothes, which although she didn't really mind others wearing, she found hard to move in. Ducking behind the wardrobe just in case the male vampire decided to turn around. Finishing, she inspected herself in the mirror on the inside of one of the doors of the wardrobe. The tight black leather pants she liked immediately, but the black velvet she found that she couldn't take to as easily. Shrugging, she folded the hideous gown that she had been wearing, and walked across the room to the large window. Finding a seemingly invisible door with a knob of glass, she opened it, exiting out to the balcony before closing it again. She walked up to the railing, turning to jump up and sit on it, safely about a yard away from where he was standing. She knew that if he had wanted to kill her, he could have easily done so while she was asleep, but experience told her to be cautious anyhow. She turned to look at the vampire whose brown hair was being blown in the wind. He didn't appear to have noticed her, so she turned to the sky and remained silent.

The sky was cloudless, with the stars sparkling beautifully, unrestricted by city lights, the closest of which must have been miles away. She sat in thought, staring at the exquisite sky. How long had it been since she had seen the sky, not to mention in the night? Two centuries at least, she guessed.

"Feeling better, I see," commented the vampire. When Selene's head snapped around to face him, however, his position had not altered in the slightest. As though he had sensed her confusion, he explained, still not moving his eyes from the sky. "I heard you get up and come out here. I was worried: you were asleep for two weeks and a day, you might want to know."

Selene shot off of the railing at this information. She knew that she had been out for a while, but over two weeks?! However, before she could say a word, the vampire spoke again, once more seeming to read her mind and answering her unspoken questions. However, he still did not look at her.

"You're in the vampire fort. No one knows you're here, though—I managed to keep everyone out of here since I brought you." Selene, finally deciding that he wasn't going to look at her anytime soon, turned and looked back to the sky as well. It was peaceful, just standing outside at night and watching the sky with someone. She hadn't had a chance to do that since… Well, since she'd been turned.

"Why did you bring me here? Why am I still alive, when you could have left me right there to die? Or, if you'd brought me here to kill me, you could have done it already. I warn you, even if I owe you my life, if you either tell Kraven that I'm here, or go all Kraven on me, trying to make me your 'life-partner', I will _suck you dry_. Am I clear about that?" To her surprise, the vampire chuckled.

"No, actually, I have no intention of doing either of those. I brought you here because of Kraven." Selene's eyes widened slightly before she narrowed them again in anger.

"I thought you said-"

"No, you understood wrong. What I meant was, Kraven talks about you so often, in so much detail, I practically know you already. That vampire really is infatuated with you, isn't he?" His head turned to face her as he asked the question. Selene gave a small smile as she replied.

"Sadly. Although, thankfully, Kraven isn't too smart—means he's not that hard to deal with. But then, his determination can get annoying. You still haven't given me an answer to my question. All you said was-" Her eyes widened slightly as she cut herself off. "Don't tell me that you caught that contagious infatuation of his? You're at least decent, but I take that back if you have that unbelievably persistent, unending infatuation!" The vampire held his hands up in defense.

"No, don't worry about that area. No offence, of course," he added quickly as he caught her eyes narrowing at him, stirring up a fear for his own life inside of him. "You just seemed like an interesting person, then today, when I saw you fight… you're really good! I mean, ten of Amelia's best men? You're amazing!"

Selene, who had never received such a compliment before, gave an awkward thank you. The vampire smiled widely at her before continuing.

"Then there was the fact that I just happened to notice—we both despise Kraven for similar reasons." Selene raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"Oh?" Sighing, the vampire looked to the ground. He looked up at the sky again a second later, seemingly attempting to put whatever he wanted to say into words.

"You see, I apparently have a great 'potential'—I was turned only a month ago, and now I fight like I've been practicing for years. I think Kraven feels like he'll gain more popularity if he manages to befriend me… Basically, it's kind of similar to you and him, just not…" Trailing off, he searched for a word. "_Intense romance_ that he wants from me." Selene gave him a glare that could kill with a side of disgust.

"You don't need to remind me, you know. It's bad enough having him stalk me, without worrying about what he actually _wants_." The vampire shrugged, and Selene turned back to the sky as well. After a few minutes in silence, just staring the sky once more, the vampire turned to face her again, his right arm stretched towards her, a smile on his face.

"By the way, I'm Michael. And don't bother introducing yourself, Selene—like I said,

Kraven talks a lot about you. Anyway, I don't know if I mentioned—I'm a doctor. Or, I was back when I was a human. I still try to help people if I find them in pain. It's like a habit that I can't break." Selene was still eyeing his hand suspiciously, as she had been doing since he had begun to talk.

"I don't bite. No, really. I don't," he said as her suspicious look intensified. Still cautious,

Selene slowly extended her arm, finally grasping his hand. She shook it, still looking at it as though it was suddenly going to tug her to him, allowing him to sink his teeth into her throat. Yet, she was finding it incredibly hard to be so cautious of his actions—he was beginning to seem like a person whom she could truly trust. As she let go, she finally gave up. She wasn't going to achieve making herself so cautious around Michael, so she might as well just stop and save her energy until it was really worth using. Besides, he had saved her life. She owed him the largest thing anyone could owe a person. Considering there was nothing to save Michael from at the moment (unless the glass suddenly decided to shatter), she decided that she would have to start with trust.

The glass shattered.

Selene and Michael whirled around to find a certain angry vampire, barefooted, skipping—or was he hopping? Or was he tripping but not falling?—with an infuriated look on his face. It took Selene a while to register exactly_ why_ Kraven was there, barefooted, trying to get away from the glass shards so as not to hurt his feet, and only achieving the task of colliding into another section the window, causing it to shatter into a million pieces as well. Selene felt like it was the best night of her life as a werewolf—she'd woken up perfectly safely, made a friend who, although a vampire, was extremely kind and apparently talented in medicine, not to mention the fact that he actually was pretty attractive, and now she was having the time of her life watching Kraven making a fool of herself. Something pale and blond came whirling in after him.

"Oh, Kraven, are you alright?" The voice was that of a concerned female. A longhaired blond, in her maid's uniform, came rushing up to the target of the pair on the balcony, guiding him gently off of the glass shards. When he was off of them, she gave a flirtatious smile, making her desired reward apparent.

_I wonder… His girlfriend?_ Contemplated Selene as she attempted to figure out exactly who could have so much compassion for such an idiot who couldn't count, couldn't see, and had no common sense.

Apparently annoyed by her invitation, Kraven shoved the girl to the side. She fell onto the glass shards, and with a cry of dismay and pain, she darted out of the room. _I guess not,_ thought the amused lycan. Giving the poor broken-hearted girl no heed, Kraven stomped up to Michael.

"What's she doing here?" Michael gave a simple reply, as though it was a common occurrence for someone to attempt to walk right through the nearly invisible window barefooted. But then again, for all Selene knew, it could have been.

"She was hurt badly, so I brought her here. She just woke up a couple minutes ago—she was in a mini-coma, sort of."

"Without telling me?" came Kraven's indignant answer. Selene mentally rolled her eyes at him for the a hundredth or so time since she had met him many years ago. He was the leader, and he was only indignant when someone did something against his will? _No wonder no one bothers listening to him,_ observed Selene, concealing the fact that she was enjoying herself incredibly.

"I thought you wouldn't be interested, what with the fact that you ran away and all," shrugged the nonchalant Michael. Kraven's face grew bright red. Whether it was shame, embarrassment, or anger, Selene could only guess.

"I didn't run away!" he defended himself. "I knew that there was no way that we were going to win, you saw how easily she knocked out the others! So I retreated." Both Michael and Selene raised their eyebrows at him. Selene was weighing her chances of getting away. There was no way that there was going to be a friendly, 'Anyway, I have to go, Lucian will be mad.' 'Okay, come back some other day, see you soon!' exchange with Kraven. Finally, Selene decided to take advantage of his slow brain, and escape with the odds leaning towards her.

"Usually, in a retreat, don't all the ones that are alive leave? Not just the frightened leader?" asked Selene, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she swung her legs over the balcony railing, dropping to the ground, and landing lithely as always.

Knowing that it would take a while before Kraven registered her comment, and still a while more before he realized that she had escaped, she sprinted down the streets. At the first entrance to the sewer system that she found, she swung herself in, making sure that the cover dropped right back into place as she left. She ran on the small ledge beside the water through the long tunnel, ignoring the smell of the disgusting substances flushed down from the toilets in the humans' houses. Suddenly she stopped, facing a wall, and jumped. Her hands caught the bottom of a small, rectangular opening that one wouldn't have been able to find unless they knew it was there. Pulling herself up, she squeezed into the tight iron tunnel, her arms in front of her. A little bit in, the tunnel turned downwards, and she allowed herself to slide at a mind-blowing speed. When the sharp slope ended, she continued to slide, until she reached an uphill slope, just as sharp as the downhill one. Using her hands in front of her, she pulled herself upwards rather quickly. The hole curved to the left, the right, the left, the left again, and the right again, all the while heading upwards. When the tunnel came to an end and she jumped out, she was in a dark, gloomy, and foul smelling ally. She darted across it, and once again jumping up, she pulled herself into another unnoticeable, rectangular hole, her hands sizzling as she did so. She winced in surprise, but then continued on, regardless of the burns the silver tunnel was inflicting upon her. When she entered, all of her body that contacted with the sides of the hole, most likely an old unused gutter, sizzled. She slithered through the short passage at an amazing speed, and when she emerged at the other end, she practically flew out of the hole with the momentum of her speed. Landing easily on her feet with a single flip, she ran down the oh-so-familiar subway tunnel with the bloodstained walls. Eventually reaching the place where she knew she had fought with the many vampires, she was not surprised to find everything gone—the dead bodies along with the unconscious ones. However, she didn't stop, continuing to run. She knew that she couldn't afford for a train to come by—her skin hurt too much from using that shortcut for her to be able to press it against the wall again in such a fashion. Upon reaching a place where there were now practically no bloodstains, she went up to a wall, placing her open palm upon it. There was an incredibly faint beeping noise, and the wall slid open to reveal a metal door. Walking up to the metal door as well, she placed her flat palm in the center. With the same faint beeping noise, the door opened. Selene entered the small room, and the wall of the subway closed, revealing wood on the back, right before the metal door closed as well.

Selene could feel in the pit of her stomach that she was descending in the elevator, but by then she did not need the feeling in her stomach to tell her that—she knew the structure of the lycan hideout inside and out. There was an abrupt stop, and the metal doors opened, revealing a wall of wood once again. When the wall had slid open, she stepped out into an entirely white hallway, pressing the wall with her palm. The doors closed before the wall once more. She stepped forward. The hallway was an intense, blinding white, and there were doors on each side every five yards. She walked as quietly as she could, hoping that no one would see her, as she smelled strongly of vampire. She knew that she needed to change her clothing before facing Lucian.

However, she was not so lucky. Just as she began walking down the white-painted hallway, a familiar growl behind her caused her to stop and turn. There stood Lucian, his eyes narrow and dangerous. He was making it quite obvious how little he was pleased with her—menace glowed in his eyes, and his teeth were bared like a wolf, as though he were on the verge of transforming.

"Where were you?" The words were spoken slowly and surely, and made her want to reply angrily. Selene knew that she had him angered enough for the rest of the day, however, and perhaps even the rest of the month, and held her tongue. Knowing that Lucian was not very merciful when he was mad, Selene responded calmly.

"Actually, I just woke up today." Lucian did not seem pleased in the least with her answer as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"There was a fight when I was on patrol duty, Lucian. Kraven decided that I was going to die or be his 'life partner' as he puts it, and brought along eleven of Amelia's best men. I knocked out eight, but then got a knife in my back in addition to the silver in my shoulder, and I had to kill two in order to live. Then Kraven ran away, and I was feeling not too good—I fainted." Lucian looked at her in the eye, his suspicion evident.

"Really, Lucian. The one vampire that was still there helped me. No, he really did! I told you I woke up today? Well, I was in the vampire's fort. He said he helped me because he thought I seemed like a nice person from what Kraven said about me. He also said that he didn't kill me because we have in common the fact that Kraven tries desperately to get close to us."

Lucian shook his head, but gave Selene a small smile, the menace disappearing.

"Come to the lab with me, Selene. I want you to see something that I think you might find useful in the future." Selene gave him a questioning look, but he just started off in the direction of the lab. They walked down the hallway to the end, turned right, and continued to walk. Eventually he opened one of the many doors to his right. Selene stepped into the white room full of the equipment that she used to know so well. The three lab tables at each side of the room that had no door, each with its own separate purpose, the cabinets built in right below the ceiling on all four walls, the restrainer for human or vampire, or even lycan experiments conducted. She looked to her left at the beakers and test tubes scattered on the lab table on that wall, and to her front to the lab table scattered with chemicals, some which she could recognize as incredibly reactive and dangerous with just one look, before turning to Lucian.

"What's been going on here? Those things aren't stored right at all!" Lucian just shook his head at her.

"Ever since you decided to leave the lab and start fighting, Selene, there hasn't been anyone professional in here." Selene glared at him. _You could at least store things right, that doesn't take an expert,_ she wanted to snap, but refrained. Lucian gave her a stern look before walking over to a lab counter on her right, the only one that was tidy.

"Actually, I found those bodies you were speaking of. But there was another dead body that you didn't mention?" Selene sighed.

"I didn't find the other one worth mentioning. She had terrible fashion sense, and she appeared before Kraven did—Kraven knows that we aren't allowed to kill vampires, although I doubt he know why. Basically, he was using her as an attempt to threaten me. Didn't go very well." Lucian smiled, amused, before returning to the topic he wanted to discuss with her.

"Those unconscious ones were handy, but so were the dead ones, actually. We've achieved." Selene's head snapped towards him from where she had been examining the chemicals in the cabinet, much more alert.

"We just inject this solution into their blood with a thin needle," he said holing up one of the thinnest needles along with a bottle of some type of green solution. "Then we bite them. It was easier than we thought, don't you think?" He was smiling widely. Selene smiled back. She walked over to the table where Lucian was, and picked up the bottle. She examined it extremely closely for a while—under a microscope as well as with the naked eye.

"I really am amazed, but I think I'll go change before I run a couple tests on this solution. I smell like vampire at the moment, and I don't think anyone's going to be happy with that." Lucian nodded, and Selene headed thoughtfully out the door, and back into the white hallway.


	3. Ferreus

_Author's Notes: Thanks again for the reviews, people! How many of you understand the titles? Should I put the translations up after the last chapter, or are you fine without?_

**Chapter 3: Ferreus**

_So, it's finally done._ Selene sighed heavily as she trudged down the hallway to a room only five doors down from the lab. _I would've liked to be there to observe when they did it._ Although she had quit the job of the lycan chemist and doctor of her own free will, there were still times when she wished that she hadn't. Although she was still informed of the experiments as soon as they were started, she no longer could go in and out of the lab at will, and the new chemist was strict beyond reason about anyone other than himself working on experiments. There was no point in continuing her job as a fighter, she often felt. She did nothing but patrol, and fighter or not, if she needed to defend herself, or was abruptly thrown into a battle as she had been two weeks ago, she was perfectly capable of defending herself. She no longer wished to continue the job of a fighter, which had ceased to mean anything to her over the passed two centuries. She wanted her old job back, but she also knew that it was not that simple. There was a new chemist-doctor for the lycans, and although he was not exactly professional, he wasn't bad at his job. _No, he just has organization problems_, thought Selene, annoyed to no extent.

Closing the door behind her, she walked over to the closet. All her clothes were black leather, although many were of different styles. Taking out a long-sleeved shirt and pants, she retreated to her bathroom to scrub herself free of the smell of vampire. She scrubbed until her skin was raw and red and had begun to crack, despite the painful burns from when she had used the forbidden and painful shortcut. _I should've known that Lucian would forbid it for a reason,_ she cursed herself. Stepping into her pants, she ignored the pain it caused to step into the tight clothes. Just the touch of the material to her skin caused her pain. What irked the lycan the most, however, was the fact that although she had scrubbed herself raw, she still smelled faintly of vampire.

But she shrugged everything off and headed for Lucian's chambers the moment she finished dressing. She opened her door, closing it behind her once she was in the hallway. She walked down the endless hallway with its twists and bends, before finally reaching her destination at the end of the hallway. Knocking, she turned the knob and entered without waiting for Lucian's approval. Selene walked into her clan's leader's rooms with an air of confidence. She knew that she was best for the job, and the only thing standing in her way was the new chemist. As he saw her stomping in to the room, Lucian looked up from his work at his metal desk.

"Yes?" It was obvious to Lucian that his best fighter wanted something, and he was perfectly willing to grant it to her as long as it was reasonable. He rather favored this particular lycan— of course, if he had anything to say about it, no one would ever find out his reason: not even Selene herself.

"I want my old job back," the female stated bluntly. Lucian turned in his comfortable-looking desk chair, brow furrowed in confusion.

"You want to be just a soldier again? What's wrong with being a fighter?" For a few minutes, Selene was confused. Why did he think that she wanted to go back to being a lowly soldier? Then she realized what he had understood wrong.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Not a soldier, or a trainer. I'm talking about the job I had first." Lucian, realizing what she was saying, was amused.

"Why the sudden change of heart, Selene?" Selene glared—she had hoped that he would understand, and she would not have to do all the explaining that she despised so.

"It isn't as sudden as it may seem to you, Lucian," she snapped impatiently. "I'm tired of fighting. I don't want to be a trainer, a soldier, or even a fighter, be it the highest rank or not. When I decided to be a fighter, there was a lot more fighting going on between the vampires and us. Then suddenly we stopped fighting so often, and now even we fighters have nothing to do, and the soldiers are doing nothing more than training along with the trainers. I want my job back Lucian. I understand that two chemists and doctors aren't needed, but I want that job. I haven't enjoyed anything since I was turned and my family killed, but even less since I quit that job." With that, she turned her back to the lycan, stomping away as surely as she had marched into the room.

_Since I was turned…my family…_ Selene's biting words echoed in Lucian's head, even after the door had slammed shut. Lucian chuckled sadly. She probably didn't even realize how her words pained him…but she knew nothing, so how could he blame her?

Sighing a heavy sigh of depression, the wizened lycan stood, and dialed a certain number, summoning his chemist. As he sat back down, awaiting the arrival of the man, he slipped deep into thought. He couldn't simply throw his friend out of his position for the sake of Selene. He had made it clear that he had no favorites, and he planned to keep things that way.

The knock on the door abruptly knocked him out of his thoughts.

"Come in," he called. The door opened to reveal an old man in a lab coat, with no expression whatsoever on his face.

"You called?" asked the man, slightly sarcastically.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did," replied Lucian, standing. "I hope that you don't mind standing, but I am sure that this won't take very long." The old man nodded slightly, standing in anticipation.

"Mostly, I have some questions to ask you," explained Lucian, studying the man's reaction. When the man gave only another small nod, Lucian continued. "Do you enjoy the job that you have right now?" The old man gave Lucian a quizzical look, as if telling him that he was insane.

"Frankly, I don't really care. It's not as though I despise it or anything, I just don't outright like it." Lucian's heart leapt. Maybe he would be able to get somewhere with this after all.

"Then you wouldn't mind having another job?" The man's eyes widened, and he shook his head quickly.

"No, no. I want to keep the job. I know what other jobs there are, and I want mine. I may not particularly like it, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to have it." Lucian sighed heavily before dismissing the lycan with a wave of his hand. He didn't know what he was going to tell Selene—he knew how much she wanted the job back—her passion for it had been clear enough when she worked in the lab.

True, the girl was stronger than any lycan or vampire, but if she didn't like the job, it wasn't worth keeping her in it. Sonja wouldn't have wanted it.

When he thought of his long-lost love, Lucian knew that he would try as hard as he possibly could to keep the living proof of their love happy.

Selene was sitting on her cot, deep in thought. She knew that Lucian wouldn't be able to do a thing to get her her job back unless the man who had it willingly gave it up, but somehow, she knew that that was not going to happen. _What can I do?_ wondered the lycan. Maybe she had despised chemistry when she had had to learn it, but she loved to put it to use. _I wish it had been me who invented that solution,_ she thought, thinking back to the green solution. She needed to let some energy out on something—anything.

An idea struck her, and a smile spread over her lips. Grabbing one of her two leather jackets, she pulled it around herself. Opening her door she placed one foot outside into the hallway.

A giant explosion caused her to nearly lose her balance, and she placed a hand on the doorframe to keep herself steady._ There!_ she thought indignantly. _A _perfect_ reason why I should be the one in that lab, conducting those experiments right now._ Another explosion shook the ground just then, and Selene dryly wondered how long it was going to be before the human police decide to inspect the subway tunnels.

She walked down the hallway after shutting her door, turning left at the first hallway that way, and walking to the end of that hall. She boarded the elevator in the same way as before, and after rising, she listened for any sound of a train before getting off and closing it.

Selene ran down the subway tunnel, using the same gutter as she had earlier in order to get to the alley. Once in the other tight tunnel at the other side of the alley, she moved much slower this time—she didn't feel like experiencing the pain of impact at every single corner on the way down as would no doubt happen if she went rapidly. Slowly she inched down, sweat beading on her forehead from the combined heat and the effort to keep herself from sliding down the steep slope. Slowly she went left, right, right, left, and right. After her feet got past the last turn, she let herself slide the rest of the way, letting the momentum pull her up the other side. Reaching the end, she worked hard to keep herself from falling into the disgusting water, lowering herself onto the ledge extremely carefully. Once her feet were firmly on the ledge, she darted towards the opening from which she remembered entering the sewer system earlier.

She cautiously raised the cover. When she was positive that the country road was deserted she emerged, letting the cover fall back into place. She could see the vampire fort in the distance. Selene walked towards her destination, although she was tempted to run and quickly carry out her plan. However, she forced herself to approach it slowly and casually. After what seemed like hours, she was finally under Michael's balcony. He was the only vampire that had a window, not to mention a balcony, observed Selene. The rest of the fort was made entirely of red brick, and there was only a front door from what she had seen on the front and the side with Michael's balcony. The sun would be rising any minute, so she felt no worry of being seen.

Finding the plumbing pipe, she leaped up, and grasped it, going up one hand at a time, although incredibly fast. Reaching a point about five yards from Michael's balcony, she contemplated whether or not to try the jumping method of getting across—5 yards was a long way to jump, even for a lycan. Selene, deciding to take a chance, crouched down, her feet ready against the brick wall. She pushed off hard with her feet, flying forward. She found herself falling before she reached it. However, catching the bottom of one of the railings, she threw her body over it, landing on her feet.

Selene was not surprised to find the curtains closed when she looked towards the window. Michael was a vampire after all, whether he was unusual or not. She approached the window cautiously and quietly. It was still broken, making it convenient for Selene, who wanted to sneak in, but the shards were gone, also making it easier for her to get in quietly. Selene smirked at the thought. The world somehow seemed to be strongly on her side, lately.

She stepped through one of Kraven's holes in the window, still hidden behind the floor-length thick curtains. She edged toward the middle, and making a little crack, she peeked out.

"-What's wrong. I'm sure he'll say something if it really is important to us," Michael was saying. Selene looked at the curtains in awe. They were soundproof too? The one who replied was the very one who had made it so simple for Selene to get in, and the one who Selene had come for. She grinned at her good luck. After making sure that no one else was in the room she stepped out from behind the curtains. Kraven had been saying something, but Selene hadn't been listening. Michael, who was facing her, allowed his eyes to widen only slightly before she put a finger to her lips, and he went back to—or maybe he was only pretending to be—listening to Kraven.

She snuck up to him, one foot in front of the other. With each step she took, she was extremely careful not to allow herself to make a single sound. She got closer and closer. When she was only a few yards away from him, she began to raise her fists over his head and-

"_Kraven!_ Look out, behind you!" The shrill shriek caused Selene's eardrums to hurt, and she had to move her hands to cover her sensitive ears. _Damn. _She had failed to note the longhaired blond from earlier that night—by her position, it looked as though she had been lying on the bed and reading some book. Something about the female vampire having been lying in Michael's bed stirred an unpleasant emotion within Selene, which she immediately suppressed.

At her shriek, Kraven spun around to face her.

"Erika, I'm trying to talk here-" But the wide-eyed, panicking, worried female shook her head and pointed at Selene.

"She was about to knock you out! And-" She moved her hand so that she now pointed at Michael. "-He was in on it too! He saw her, and she signaled him to be quiet!"

Sometime during the vampire's—Erika's—speech, Kraven had whirled around, and by the time she was done, Michael had moved to stand next to Selene, and the two glared at their loathed enemy who glared right back at the two of them.

Suddenly, without warning, Kraven's fist slammed into Michael's face. Glancing in shock at the vampire on the verge of passing out—perhaps it was because he had saved her regardless of the fact that they were enemies, or because when he had looked at her, he had seen more than just a beautiful werewolf and treated her with respect, or perhaps it was both—the anger surged within her, and she immediately sent a kick towards his face, hitting his left cheek right on target. Before he had time to do anything. She slammed a fist hard at his forehead, and he went limp on the ground. Four trickles of cold, red, liquid poured from the sections of the four bruises made by Selene's knuckles where the skin had ripped. The amount of blood pouring from his head increased, and just as Selene was contemplating whether or not she would need to stop the bleeding in order to keep him alive, there was a strangled cry, and Erika ran at Selene, her fists raised. However, Selene easily jumped backwards, and the girl stumbled from the force of the punch that hit nothing but air. As she was regaining her balance, Selene slapped the back of her head, knocking her out. Normally she would have left the girl alone, but if she wanted to get all the way back to the subway tracks with the two male vampires, she needed to get them passed the alley soon. In addition, if they were to do it without waking Kraven, it would take even longer.

Selene kneeled next to Michael, who was clutching his head as if he were going to pass out at any moment, on the gray carpet, and lightly slapped his cheeks a couple times.

"Look, I need you to help me with something."


	4. Mendum

**Chapter 4: Mendum**

Selene pressed her hand to the wall, her skin still sizzling. In her left hand she held the unconscious Kraven's right arm, and Michael, on the other side of Kraven, held his left arm in his right hand. After marveling at the technology of the lycans, once they were in the elevator, he turned to Selene.

"You sure you're alright?" he asked uncertainly, eyeing her cracked, burning, once-flawless skin. Selene glared at him hard.

"I. Am. Fine." Her voice was as cold as the voice she had used in the subway tunnel the day with Kraven.

The elevator stopped, and Selene turned to Michael.

"We're going to have to be careful getting him to the lab—we need to be quiet, but really fast." Michael nodded, and Kraven gave a groan. Looking at her prisoner, Selene hoped that they would have enough time before he woke up and made a huge racket, alerting everyone of his and Michael's presence in the lycans' supposedly secret hideout.

Pressing her palm to the door, the moment that it opened, Selene bolted out, dragging Kraven along. Michael tried to keep up with her, but when he ran that fast, he discovered, his black shoes made a racket on the tiled floor, unlike Selene's slipper-like ones. Earning a glare from Selene at his loudness, he slowed, tiptoeing— it was the only way that he would be able to walk quietly. Although displeased by this, Selene knew that he was less likely to be found if he was just slow, than if he caused a giant racket.

She dragged Kraven's limp body around the corner, his chest hitting the corner at such a force that if he had been starting to regain consciousness, he would have been knocked out clean again.

In front of the lab door, Selene slowed down, pressing her ear to the lab door. Hearing voices from inside, she let out a string of curses, and turning around, dragged the vampire into her own room just as Michael was making it around the corner. She waved to him and pointed at her door, and when he nodded in response, she dragged Kraven inside. Kraven moaned. Knowing that she couldn't leave him to wake up this way, she went to her bureau, pulling out a long piece of light brown, rough rope—remainders from long ago when fighting was a frequent thing.

She dragged Kraven up to her black, wooden desk chair, and attempted to sit him in it. However, for some reason or another, his body kept sliding forwards and off of the chair the moment she stopped supporting it with both hands. As she was struggling with the limp body of Kraven, Michael entered the room. Just as he entered, she spun around to face him, and the body fell. Upon seeing that it was only Michael, Selene relaxed. However, when she turned back to the body, she felt like groaning in frustration.

"Having some trouble with that body, I see," observed Michael, earning a death glare. "Here, I'll support him, and you tie him." Michael walked over to Kraven, and held his shoulders firmly. Selene, although slightly ashamed that she couldn't do it on her own, grabbed the rope, and after winding Kraven's upper body and arms to the back of the chair multiple times, tied the rope and cut it. She then did the same with his legs to the chair's front legs. Finally, grabbing a large, white handkerchief, she stuffed the middle section into his mouth, tying it behind his head. By now, Kraven's eyelids were fluttering, opening occasionally before falling back again.

"I'm going to go check the lab again, if you don't mind. You stay here with him, and don't you _dare _let him free," ended Selene, pointing a threatening finger at her vampire friend.

In the blinding hall, Selene, happier than she had been in centuries from the prospect of tying up her most loathed enemy, had to refrain from smiling widely like an idiot as she walked passed the four doors to the fifth, the door to the lab.

Sobering just before reaching the door, Selene pressed her ear to it, her joy evaporating and returning back to resume its place where it belonged in her childhood as she concentrated at the task at hand.

She listened hard, using all the power she had to intensify the strength of her already-sensitive ears. Hearing nothing, she opened the door only a crack. The lights were out. Still she didn't dare turn on the lights. She had never known why she was so cautious around the new scientist—there was just something about the white-haired old man that made it impossible for her to trust him. No sign of life, she noted, as her sharp brown eyes adjusted to the dark. Flipping on the light switch, she turned with the intention of calling Michael to bring Kraven. She was about to step out of the doorframe, when a group of joking lycans rounded the corner. Selene recognized them as the new trainers, turned not long ago—maybe a month, maybe less.

She ducked back behind the door, closing it softly and hoping that they were too engrossed in conversation to notice the door. As soon as she picked up the sounds of footsteps getting further in the direction diagonally right in front of her, she knew that they had rounded a corner, and she opened the door again.

An explosion shook the ground violently, knocking three test tubes and five beakers off of the counter, and Selene clearly heard all eight of them shatter on the ground into a million pieces.

_If that has been happening during every single explosion that's gone off in here…_ Selene's thought trailed off, and agitated, she marched behind the left counter. By the time she got back there and saw the floor, it didn't surprise her. Apparently an uncountable number of beakers and test tubes had shattered, and the floor was littered with glass splinters, small pieces of the glass, and larger pieces. The once-clear glass was no longer clear as the breaks on the breaks were white in color.

Just then, the door swung open, and Michael burst through the doorway, dragging Kraven, slamming the door behind them. His eyebrows were pulled close together with his worry, and the wrinkles on his forehead expressed his displeasure before he even spoke.

"What the-" However, Selene, knowing exactly why he was acting this way, and knowing exactly what he wanted to know, pointed her thumb to the clattered counter behind her: the one opposite the door.

"Really bad chemist. Has organization problems," was her brief explanation to the still panicking vampire.

Michael looked over at the table of chemicals. His jaw dropped in shock. There were about thirty jars of chemicals on that table, apparently almost all compounds with transition elements, judging by the fact that most of them were colored. It looked as though someone had decided to use one of the compounds, took the top of the jar off of the compound that person wanted to use, had used it in whatever they were using, and then simply left it lying there, wide open. Then when going to get the next compound, it looked as though the chemist either had a bad case of klutz, or he had deliberately decided to knock over all the open compounds, whether they were in the form of liquid or solid.

"Well, at least he doesn't leave the gases open and lying around," pointed out Michael, in an attempt to act positive. Selene, who had just begun to drag Kraven over to the restrainer, spared Michael an annoyed glance over her shoulder.

"Of course he has to know _some _facts and be able to do _some _things," said Selene, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. But then again, to her, it was. "Lucian wouldn't have appointed him chemist and doctor to all of us if he didn't at least have some brains." Having reached the restrainer, she pulled Kraven up by the arm. Finding that that didn't get him high up enough to get him into the restrainer, she instead lifted him with her hands under his upper arms as she attempted to get his arms through the thick arm straps that would hold him up.

"So, he knows some chemistry and biology," said Michael, a hint of sarcasm entering his voice. "But he obviously doesn't know not to open chemicals and leave them lying around to mix as they want. Come on! That's common sense! I mean, you and I know that, and neither of us is, or ever has been a chemist! Well I guess that I've done a little bit before, with mixing medicines and such. But you haven't." Selene finally managed to slip one of Kraven's limp, unresisting arms through one of the straps. As she got to work on the other arm, she only uttered a few words.

"Speak for yourself, and not for those that you only met today." Michael looked at her quizzically as she got Kraven's arm through the other strap.

"You've been a chemist? And I met you a little more than two weeks ago!" Selene was now getting the waist belt from behind Kraven's body where it was being crushed.

"Yes, I was the chemist and doctor here before I quit so that I could fight during the war. Now the war's ended, and I have nothing to do as a fighter, so I'm trying to get my job back. And I was asleep until today, so the rest really doesn't count," she added as she strapped the waist belt around Kraven's abdomen, making it incredibly tight and firm before she went to tighten the arm straps.

Michael stood there looking at Selene in awe. Or, more awe than before.

Just then, another explosion shook the ground. _At least it's a lighter one,_ thought the un-phased Selene as she continued to strap in Kraven's legs. Michael, she noted with amusement, had stumbled and fallen from the force of the explosion. Finding the head strap, she put that around her enemy's head and tightened it.

"If you couldn't handle that one, wait 'til you feel the huge ones," Selene told the vampire on the floor as she went to work on the wrists.

"That wasn't a big one?" groaned Michael.

Right on cue, a much larger explosion shook the ground—most of the pile of beakers and test tubes fell and broke. Selene cursed.

"Like that?" he asked Selene. The confused lycan was looking over to the chemical table.

"That wasn't from here, it was from somewhere else…" she had no idea where it was coming from, but she hurried to strap up Kraven's ankles. Another huge explosion made Michael tremble. Selene, still giving the explosions no heed, took a pipette and placed a drop of the green liquid that had been shown to her earlier that night on a glass slide, before putting a cover slide on top of that.

Kraven's eyes fluttered open, and he saw Michael on the floor before him. As his memory returned, he angrily attempted to get to Michael. He struggled against the straps binding him, but even struggling was hard to do with straps as thick and tight as the ones that bound his body.

He then caught sight of Selene, who was currently bent over a microscope, apparently deep in thought. _It makes sense…yes, it makes perfect sense. But why is there the fluorine in there? Oh well, I'm probably just out of practice,_ reasoned Selene, trying to ignore the voice in the back of her head.

"Selene! Selene!!" the restrained vampire was calling. Michael had now stood up. Selene, however, ignored the annoying vampire as she searched through the lower cabinets on the right side of the room for the thinnest needles.

"Selene! Help me out of here, Michael's got me tied up and is trying to kill me! Selene, help!" wailed the vampire. Another giant explosion shook the ground again. Selene was beginning to feel uneasy about those explosions—not once were they the chemicals.

Shaking off the feeling, she ignored the annoyed vampire and the wailing one as she got the liquid into the shot. Shaking it up a little just to be sure, she then walked over to Kraven. Ignoring his intensifying screams, Selene took off the cap with her teeth before carefully injecting it into an artery in Kraven's arm. Injecting all she had taken into his body, she threw out the needle.

Kraven's struggling intensified, and he fell forward, restrainer and all. Turning around, Selene sighed in exasperation before turning to the other vampire who was inspecting the chemicals on the table. Another explosion shook everything, but Selene did not allow herself to pay any attention.

"You know, Michael, you said you were a doctor. You could help out here, instead of staring at those." However, Michael didn't appear to hear her, his brow furrowed in concentration.

Shrugging, Selene went back to her own task. Walking over to the fallen restrainer, from under which was coming a lot of grunting, groaning, and growling, she lifted it up, only to be met by the sight of a face smeared with blood. She sighed, exasperated.

"You know, Kraven, if you just stayed still, you wouldn't hurt yourself like that," she told him as she went over to the sink, returning with a wet rag. She wiped up his blood-coated face, revealing that the source was nothing more than a nosebleed. _He'll live,_ thought Selene, relieved.

Removing his right shoulder strap, she pulled his shirt back, pushing his hair out of the way. For once, Kraven seemed to realize that he needed to get out of the place, and began to struggle. However, the loss of the one strap alone would have made no difference, and with Selene's hands also restraining him now in an iron grip, he knew that he was helpless to do a thing.

Selene swallowed her doubts, and began to transform. As the fur began to grow rapidly, the doubt vanished. She felt no more sympathy for Kraven, no matter what the outcome turned out to be. Finally completely transformed, she bit down upon Kraven's collarbone. He screamed.

Michael turned around to see Selene biting Kraven, and his jaw dropped, not for the first time that night. Kraven struggled hard, he noticed, and Selene let go, returning to her human form. Michael could see Kraven's wound, the blood sizzling and bubbling from the wound larger than intended, made by Kraven's struggling. As Selene hurried to un-strap him, Michael rushed to help.

Kraven fell to the floor, his wound sizzling and bubbling the way vinegar and baking soda did in a little child's mini-volcano. The blood splattered everywhere at the same time as it streamed out like a river, creating the ocean around the knees of the vampire in pain. Selene grabbed a towel, attempting to stop the bleeding with it. However, the blood soaked all the way through the towel, never slowing. The vampire coughed, spraying blood over everything in front of him, including Michael. The red never ceased, and the vampire was muttering something incoherent.

"Please… Please…" Selene thought she heard him begging for something, but it took a minute before she realized what he wanted. There was no hope for him now: that she knew. She reached into her inside pocket for a knife before suddenly hesitating. This was the vampire who had tortured her, and from what she had heard, Michael as well. Did he really deserve to be given a simple release?

A giant explosion shook the floor once more, and along with the sound of something being broken down, Kraven collapsed. Selene and Michael stood splattered with blood, staring at the passed out vampire.

"I _knew_ there shouldn't have been any fluorine in that! The fluorine's way too reactive, I mean, it's the most reactive nonmetal! Come on, that's high school level chemistry!" Selene said, annoyed.

Michael hesitated for a couple seconds before asking a question that was bugging him.

"What did you do?" Selene walked over to the counter on the right, tossing him the bottle of green liquid.

"That was invented by the other scientist—was supposed to turn vampires into werewolves. Didn't believe him. Injected some into Kraven and bit him like you're supposed to. The fluorine shouldn't have been in there," replied Selene, giving her abbreviated version of everything.

It was only then that Michael and Selene noticed the commotion in the hallway. It was so loud and there was so much yelling, it made it hard to miss.

"Wait, Selene?" Michael called out to her as she was about to head for the doorway. "There's something about the chemicals on that counter—do you have any idea what that chemist has been doing?"

"No," Selene replied bluntly.

"I looked at those chemicals that are open—it looks to me like that chemist was trying to make bombs, which I would guess would be about as strong as those we've been hearing and feeling." Selene's head snapped towards the door, and she opened it an inch. A dagger came flying towards her, and she jumped out of the way as it flew through the crack one inch wide, landing at Michael's feet. Looking out once more, Selene felt that the scene that she was seeing seemed vaguely familiar.

Closing the door, Selene turned to Michael.

"I'm sorry to have to say this, but our species have just started World War III out in the hallway." Selene walked over to Kraven's limp body, feeling his pulse.

"Dead," she informed Michael. Michael, having no idea what else to do, shrugged.

"_I WANT KRAVEN!!!!!"_ The amazingly shrill shriek cut through all the hallways and through all the doors. If they had had windows, Selene had no doubt that they would have shattered into a million pieces right about then.

Suddenly, without warning, the door opened, and a familiar, wise-looking vampire entered the lab. Although she had never met him before (she had never met any elder before), she knew him at once.

When he saw her, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Selene?" he inquired, looking surprised beyond belief. Before she could wonder how her knew her by name, his eyes narrowed in hatred as he darted towards her. Unable to step out of the way in time, she refused to struggle when he caught her by the collar of her jacket, throwing her across the room. Jumping to her feet, she assumed her fighting stance. However, to her surprise, the elder did not seem to want to fight, but talk.

"So, decided to stay with the werewolves, did you?" snarled the vampire. Selene, confused, did nothing.

"I suppose you thought we vampires wouldn't accept you. Well, now you're right. You've disgraced your mother, Selene. Actually, I take that back. Your father disgraced her enough already—her daughter couldn't disgrace her any further." Selene was now more confused than ever.

"What do you know? Mother and father were kind, and loved one another before they were killed so mercilessly! My siblings too! You know nothing of my family—that I know. So don't act as though you knew my parents so well!" The elder, who had looked extremely confused when Selene had started, now laughed bitterly, understanding why their words could not meet up.

"So that's how he hid you. Gave you up to a human family, then pretended to turn you, bringing you to live with him once it was safe. Clever," commented the vampire thoughtfully. Selene, on the other hand, was ten times more confused than she had been when they had started this strange conversation.

"What-" Her inquiry was cut off as the elder grabbed her throat, slamming her body against the wall, deliberately causing her head to hit the bottom of a cabinet. Selene could do nothing against his grip.

Michael, who had been frozen in the corner, was about to rush to Selene's aid when the door flew open with a crash, and someone kicked the elder away from Selene. Holding Selene (who was too weak both emotionally and physically to protest) close like a treasure, Lucian growled menacingly.

"You had your way with my love, and I could do nothing. However, you_ will _keep your hands off of my daughter, Viktor."

_Author's Note: I'm sorry to say that there's just one more chapter left... But I suppose that depends on how you look at it. I'll put the titles' translations at the end of the next chapter._


	5. Atra Rosa

_**Author's Note:**__ Yes, I'm well aware that all three elders cannot be awake at once in the original. However, it suited the purpose of my story, so just imagine that they all wake up in times of extreme crisis or something._

**Chapter 5: Atra Rosa**

_Daughter? _thought Selene, feeling very faint. But this wasn't the time to feel faint, so she shook her head of the blurriness and tried to make sense of the situation. _Okay, say I'm Lucian's daughter. What does Viktor have to do with anything?_

As if he heard her thought, her question was answered immediately.

"My daughter," growled Viktor. "Allowed you to disgrace her. My granddaughter apparently knew nothing until just now," he said, smirking at Selene. "And she can do nothing about her heritage. I am willing to accept her if she agrees to turn her back to you lycans."

Lucian laughed triumphantly.

"I guess I win, then. If I know her as well as I think I do, Selene isn't going to simply turn her back on us and walk away." Viktor smirked at this.

"No, you lose. If she doesn't come to my side, she shall be my enemy, and I shall kill her without any hesitation at all." Lucian smirked right back.

"You forget—you'll have to get through me first," said Lucian, as he stood, leaving his hands on Selene's shoulders. "Get out of here, Selene," he whispered as he proceeded to stand. Too confused to do anything else, Selene stood as well, backing out of the way of the two mortal enemies.

"So be it," replied Viktor, drawing two guns, no doubt packed full of silver bullets. In response, Lucian drew two of the newest type of gun as well.

Michael, grabbing the immobile Selene, dragged her out into the hallway. The second he closed the lab door, a knife flew passed him, missing by a hair's width, before it embedded itself in the door. A female vampire, another elder, walked up to the pair, holding an astonishing number of knives.

"I was looking for you, Michael," the vampire told him. "I was hoping that you might help me take down a couple tough ones. However," she eyed Selene in Michael's arms. "Seems like you've decided to go traitor on us all."

At the word 'traitor', Selene's mind went blank. She knew nothing anymore—only that she wanted this woman dead for using such a word. If befriending or loving one of another species was being a traitor, then the world should have had only one species.

Her leg flew out at the female vampire—the only female elder.

"You're supposed to be old and wise, Amelia. Then realize this—the world isn't worth being in if you're unable to befriend anyone but those of your own species." Amelia laughed. It looked as though she was opening her mouth to say something, but Selene knew what Amelia thought at the point that she had laughed off Selene's outburst. Selene didn't need to hear the words.

She threw another kick at Amelia, who caught her foot in an iron grip. Using her gripped foot as support, she lashed out with a kick at Amelia's head, which was ducked and a punch at the arm that was holding her foot, in response to which her foot was dropped. Landing on her feet, Selene wasted no time in resuming her fighting stance. She threw another punch, and when it was avoided, another one. However, the elder seemed to be able to read her moves before she made them, and she could not inflict one scratch on the other woman. Suddenly, Amelia drew a knife, lashing out with it. Selene attempted to duck, but it caught her cheek, which burned and sizzled.

Jumping back, Selene tried to think of something. She looked around for Michael, but could not find him. Feeling deserted, Selene turned back to her opponent, who was now attacking with two knives. She ducked when they were high, jumped when they were low, and when they headed for anywhere else, she moved to the side. However, Amelia proved to be not only fast in speed, but in wit as well. It was as though she could read what Selene's next move was going to be, and attack her based on that. Selene couldn't escape Amelia's knives without at least a scratch, she knew as one of the knives cut through her leather jacket, leaving a scratch on the skin as well.

Finally, Selene willed herself to transform. Her limbs were stronger, and the animal instincts made her swifter. She threw herself at Amelia, but the elder just held a knife out in front of herself, causing Selene's recently healed shoulder to be inflicted with the pain of silver once more as she jumped back, yanking the knife from her body.

Suddenly, a thought struck her, and she closed her eyes. If her mother had been a vampire and her father was a lycan, didn't that then mean that she was some of each? Concentrating, she searched herself for something with her mind. Just as she was beginning to think that she had been wrong, she felt it—a pulse similar to the one that she reached out to when transforming into a werewolf, but slightly different. When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the form of a human, or that of a werewolf. She smirked at the shocked Amelia.

"You're good at fighting werewolves and humans—but how about your own kind?" she asked with a smirk. Smirking back, but without a reply, Amelia attacked.

Selene jumped, and with a flip, landed on Amelia's other side, holding one of her guns. She fired at the vampire, who ducked. However, as she continued to fire, jumping over Amelia anytime she decided to attack, and each time landing on a different side, two bullets hit Amelia right in the chest. As soon as they contacted with her skin, they let loose a blinding light, and the next second Amelia and Selene were on the ground.

_I forgot—it affects me, too, when I'm in this form,_ thought Selene as she attempted to stand.

With a loud sizzling sound, she transformed back into her human form, her burning skin making the process incredibly painful, along with the pain in her shoulder. She wanted to collapse and faint, but she knew very well that that wouldn't work, as she was currently stuck in the middle of a giant war, where it would most likely be incredibly hard to get out without being killed. Therefore, she settled upon sitting there silently, hoping that no one would notice.

She noticed Michael approaching, shooting any lycan or vampire that got in his way. After shooting the last one, he darted towards her, seeing her skin.

"God, Selene—what did they do to you? Put you in a silver box that was in contact with every part of your body?" he asked in shock.

Selene laughed at this.

"No, actually—I did it myself. I transformed into a vampire, figuring that she wouldn't know so well how to fight her own kind, but then it backfired when I used the sunlight gun."

Michael looked as though he didn't know whether to laugh or to sympathize with her.

"God, what did they do to her?" The male vampire who asked strongly resembled Michael, and was clearly another elder.

"Selene, this is Marcus, my grandfather by exactly twenty generations."

Selene raised an eyebrow at this but smiled weakly at Marcus.

"Hi, I'm Selene, the daughter of Lucian and the granddaughter of Viktor," she introduced herself sarcastically.

Marcus laughed, and Michael frowned.

"She's serious, Marcus," he said, a serious expression shielding his face of any emotion he may have felt.

Marcus looked from one to the other, and slowly his smile faded.

"You're serious," he said.

"That's what you're grandson just said," replied Selene.

"_I WANT KRAVEN!!!_" The shrill, shrieking voice was back. _"FIND KRAVEN!!"_

Selene rolled her eyes.

"I wonder who that might be? She's been screaming like that since we got here. In fact, I think that she was the one that came to us and showed Viktor where this place was."

Selene and Michael exchanged a glance at the actions of the over-obsessed girl, before replying to Marcus' question in unison.

"She's the Kraven-obsessed Erika," they said. Looking at one another as they heard the other say the very same thing, they smiled.

"So, where is Kraven, anyway?" asked Marcus.

"I accidentally killed him," shrugged Selene. Marcus frowned in disapproval and opened his mouth to say something, but Michael was quicker.

"Speaking of Kraven, I think we should go check on Viktor and Lucian now," he said, picking the weakened Selene up with ease.

"Put me down!" hissed the lycan (and vampire, as she had now discovered), glaring. However, Michael remained unfazed. "Let me go, I can walk on my own!"

"I'm the doctor here, and I say that you can't. Even if you did, you would only make your condition worse."

When she glared her hardest glare and still the vampire remained unfazed, she knew that he had decided what he was going to do, and nothing was going to change that decision. However, she continued to glare, wanting to prove that if she weren't so injured, she would not let him remain standing after carrying her.

Michael opened the door to the lab, only to find three crumpled, bloody bodies collapsed on the floor. On the right side was the bloody body of Kraven, his wound still bubbling occasionally, face contorted in obvious pain, but covered in the cold liquid—never-clotting blood. On the left was the body of something that must have had human form before. It looked as though rage had been taken out heavily upon it, not ending even after it had died. Its stomach was punched and clawed until the skin was scattered around the room, on the walls, floor and ceiling, little bloody pieces that looked almost like blood-drenched cloth that refused to absorb the red essence. Its small intestine was pulled out, the blood collecting in some parts, while leaving the tan-color showing through a thinner coating of blood in other parts. It extended from its stomach, collected in a coil about half a yard from the body. The eyes were clawed out, one thrown at the wall and the backside smashed, causing it to stick to the walls, the pupil still intact, staring at the bodies in the room in sorrow. The other had simply rolled away and was not far from the body. There were four claw marks on each of the body's cheeks, and blood was still leaking out. The third and final body was a gray ball of fur in the pool of blood that stained his fur, making it seem more brownish red than gray. There were many bullet wounds, one could see. Inside some of the wounds, something would flash silver when observed at the right light.

"Lucian!" gasped Selene, ignoring the otherwise unbearable pain as she pushed herself out of Michael's arms and stumbled towards her father, her own pain numbing. As though he had heard his daughter call out to him, he reassumed his human form.

Crouching next to the body of her newly found-and-lost father, she checked for pulse. It was faint, but there.

"Michael, you're a doctor, do something!" she commanded the vampire only a few feet away. However, he shook his head. "What do you mean?" she screamed at him, losing her cool exterior. "He isn't dead yet, do something!" However, even as she said that, she felt his pulse grow slower and slower, and then even slower.

He whispered something. She couldn't hear it, and stared at his face, hoping to read it when and if he repeated it. 'Selene', his mouth formed. A small smile crossed the suffering lycan's face as his mouth formed another word that Selene found hard to make out. Had it been 'Sonja'? Her hand on Lucian's neck ceased to pick up the steady, faint beating of his heart.

Humans had something called CPR for these situations… How did they do it again? She couldn't remember and Michael refused to help. Her father's pulse refused to return, and she felt empty and lost. She had just found her father, and then before she could even register that one fact, he had had to go and die.

_Who's Sonja?_ She wanted to know. He hadn't had an affair after her mother, had he? The thought made her blood boil.

"Who's Sonja?" asked Selene bluntly. Marcus, who had entered and now stood behind Michael, replied.

"Sounds familiar… I think that at about the time when Viktor and Amelia and I had just become elders—about five centuries ago—Viktor had a daughter by that name. Don't know what happened to her, she disappeared about a century after that, I think. We all suspected that Viktor killed her. There had been a rumor going around for about a year at that point that Sonja had been mixing with people that Viktor disapproved of…"

Selene drowned Marcus' voice out as he began to describe the rumors. _My mother,_ she realized. Looking to the ruin that was Viktor, she suddenly understood why he had been put through so much pain. He had killed his own daughter for falling in love.

She hated him. Had it not already been done, she would have forced him to die a very painful death.

Turning to the body of her father, she was suddenly happy for him. He was with Sonja, where he belonged. During the four centuries that he had lived without her, he had expressed his affection for Selene in roundabout ways. When she thought back now, she realized that he had always been her father throughout the years—she simply had not seen it. She took the pendant that hung around his neck. She had never questioned it, or even particularly noticed it, but she wanted a keepsake to remember her father. But when she turned it over, her heart caught in her throat. Carved beautifully into the golden pendant were their three names, interlaced. For a fleeting moment, she wondered what life would have been like had Viktor never killed Sonja. They would probably be living happily together, all three of them. Not as lycans or as vampires, or even as humans. Maybe they would have started their own group, where all were welcome—vampire, lycan, and human alike. Maybe there wouldn't have been so many deaths among all the species. Maybe they could have started a new and peaceful era.

But she knew better than to dwell on the past, and shook the regretful thoughts from her mind. She stood, her eyes still dry.

"Fire!" someone screamed in the hallway. Michael picked Selene up once more, and this time she didn't protest. Standing up had hurt enough. Darting to the door with a firm but gentle hold on Selene, he threw open the door. The white hall was no longer a battlefield; nor, for that matter, was it white any longer. Blood now stained the walls and bodies covered the ground.

However, there was a fire, approaching quickly from the right, Jumping over bodies, Michael ran down the hall, turning left at the corner, Marcus at his heels. There was a large hole in the ceiling next to the elevator, which was, for some reason, open. Just as he was about to jump up, he didn't notice a body by his feet, and he stumbled, falling—Selene and all—into the elevator, the force causing the doors to close as it began to ascend. Selene sat up, rubbing her head.

"Ever heard that you're not supposed to use an elevator during a fire?" she asked.

In response, Michael could only smile sheepishly.

The elevator reached the top with no problems other than a few jerks, and at the top, Selene pressed her palm to the door. To her and Michael's surprise, when the wall opened, they were greeted by the sight of a train rushing by not ten inches from where the wall had been.

They waited, Selene calmly and Michael anxiously. Taking one more look at the pendant still clutched in her hand, she clasped it around her neck, making sure that she made the minimal amount of moves so as not to hurt her already painful skin any more.

"Why does it take so long for the train to pass? We need to get out of here before the elevator falls!" said Michael impatiently after they had been waiting for what seemed to be more than enough time for a train to pass.

"They started the Many-Train-Cars Revolution," explained Selene monotonously, now inspecting her many torn nails.

When the train had finally passed, Michael lifted Selene again, and ran down the tunnel. Selene just closed her eyes, tired, finding it extremely hard to believe that a war had both started and ended that very night.

Reaching a station, Michael jumped up onto the platform, still holding Selene. He ceased to run, and walked, not wanting to attract too much attention, although he knew that it was impossible to attract none, what with the ripped clothes, the blood, and Selene's scorched body.

Once up the stairs and away from the majority of prying eyes, Selene opened her eyes. Marcus was not far away, apparently figuring that they would come this way.

"There were two lycans and three vampires that got away. But, as you probably can guess, the vampires didn't get very far." There was a silence that lasted for a while.

"So are we going to wait here until the night, then go back to the fort?" asked Michael, still holding Selene.

"That's what I was planning; the two lycans are already headed that way—I gave them directions." Feeling he had to explain just in case one of them objected, he hastened to continue. "I mean, since there're only two lycans, two vampires, and one cross between the two left that's alive, I figured that the five of us might as well stick together…" Trailing off, Marcus awaited their reaction, bracing himself for the worst.

"You don't need to explain, Marcus. We understand; we're not like Viktor." Marcus smiled at Selene, relieved, and Michael nodded in agreement. No one spoke after that presently, each too lost in his or her own thoughts. Just a few minutes ago, Selene realized, she had been thinking that had her mother lived, there may have been peace between the two species, and possibly the humans as well. Now, though at a great price, their two species were unifying.

"Well, considering we have an entire day on our hands, during which two of the three of us can't go outside, why don't we actually get to know each other?" grinned Marcus. Briefly looking at each other, Michael and Selene smiled widely before agreeing readily to Marcus.

In that one second, the same thought had run through both their minds—they had only really met earlier that night.

_**Author's Notes: **__Well, then. What do you think? I think it must have been about three years ago that I wrote this… Like I said in the first chapter, it was at the request of a friend, who said that she'd once seen a fan fiction with a summary like this, only once she opened it, it was (for some strange reason that neither of us could comprehend) a Kim Possible story. So this was my attempt to write a story like that for her. Rereading it, there actually were a bunch of mistakes that I had to fix (and I probably missed some, too) and there're aspects of this writing style that I don't use anymore._

_So, tell me what you thought! I'm desperate for feedback!_

_**Translations of Titles from the Latin:**_

**Odium** – _Hatred _or _Enmity_.

**Nox** – _Night._

**Ferreus** – _Unfeeling_ or _Cruel_. Literally means 'of iron' or 'hard', but can be used to express that state of mind or heart as well.

**Mendum** – _Error_ or _Blunder._

**Atra Rosa** – (_A_) _Black Rose_.


End file.
